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Sonnet 43
Shakespeare's Sonnets Translation Sonnet 44
If the dull substance of my flesh were thought, Injurious distance should not stop my way; For then, despite of space, I would be brought From limits far remote where thou dost stay. No matter then although my foot did stand Upon the farthest earth removed from thee, For nimble thought can jump both sea and land As soon as think the place where he would be. But ah, thought kills me that I am not thought To leap large lengths of miles when thou art gone, But that so much of earth and water wrought, I must attend time’s leisure with my moan, Receiving naughts by elements so slow But heavy tears, badges of either’s woe.
If the heavy substance of my flesh was thought instead,
Harmful distance should not keep me from you;
For then, despite the distance, I would be brought
From lands far away to where you are staying.
It wouldn't matter if my foot were standing
Upon the point on the earth furthest removed from you,
Quick thought can jump across both sea and land
As soon as it thinks of the place where he would be.
But ah, thought kills me when I think I am not thought
To leap many miles when you are gone,
Since my body is made of so much earth and water,
I must wait on the whim of time with my complaints,
Receiving nothing from the slow elements
But heavy tears, the tokens of their grief.
